The Four Caretakers
by nellaselfgirl
Summary: Splinter comes down with a fever.


Splinter moaned quietly as he sat down at the table waiting for the water to boil for tea. It was early in the morning and Splinter had come down with a cold. He was very much enjoying the peace and quiet, as his seven-year-old sons were still asleep. The teakettle began to whistle and that made his head ache slightly worse. When he started drinking his tea his sons came out of their room.

"Good morning Sensei!" they all said together. Splinter started rubbing his temples.

"Are you okay Sensei?" asked Leo.

"I am afraid I have come down with a cold my sons," responded Splinter in a stuffy voice. The turtles looked worried.

"Do you want to go back to bed Sensei?" asked Don, "Cause we can train by ourselves, and we promise we won't make any noise,"

Splinter smiled, he did want to go back to bed but the he had to be there when they trained, they never really got any injuries during training besides some bruises but you never know what could happen.

"I will rest after your training," said Splinter. He got up to prepare their breakfast. But the turtles stopped him.

"We can do it Sensei," said Leo, "you need to rest," Splinter held back a chuckle.

"Very well," he said as he sat back down. The four turtles made breakfast and Splinter was surprised they didn't need any help and they did a good job. When they all finished breakfast the turtles did the dishes and then they trained. Splinter could feel his cold was turning into a fever as he moved around to observe his sons progress. The training session was halfway over when Splinter started to feel a little lightheaded. He needed to rest.

"All right my sons, I think we can pick up on this later," he said and the turtles stopped and looked at him.

"Sensei, you don't look good," said Mikey. Splinter began to feel cold.

"I am going to rest now," he said as he walked to his room and closed the door. Splinter lay down on his bed and wrapped himself in his warm comforter. He tried to go to sleep but constant coughing and sneezing prevented that. He lay in bed for some time; he could hear his sons moving quietly in the other room. Then it was completely quiet, he was shivering and finally he started to doze off.

When he opened his eyes he saw that there were several more blankets on him and he saw his son next to him holding a tray with soup and tea on it, and there was also a couple pills in a small cup.

"We brought you lunch," said Mikey so innocently.

"Why thank you," said Splinter as he slowly sat up and gladly accepted the food. His sons all climbed in bed with him and talked to him as he ate. When he finished he looked at the pills.

"That's some medicine to help you get better," said Don.

"Where did you get this?" asked Splinter. They didn't answer at once; they all got a guilty look on their faces and looked down.

"Well…" started Raph, "we had some money saved up, and we went…topside,"

"We know we shouldn't have," said Mikey, "but we wanted you to get better and obviously the pills we find during scavenging is no good, so Leo and Don put on disguises and went to a Pharmacy,"

Splinter held up his hand, "I appreciate all you have done for me today, but you all know how dangerous it is for you, and I am disappointed. There will be a small punishment for disobeying me…again. But that will come when I have recovered," Splinter was shivering again then he took the medicine. "Boys I need to rest," Raph took the tray into the kitchen. Splinter lay back down and Leo and Mikey put the covers over him. Don quickly ran out for a moment and came back with more blankets. Splinter chuckled.

"Thank you Donatello, but I think I am all set," Don nodded and left the blankets on a chair near his bed. Then they left their Sensei in peace, and this time Splinter quickly fell fast asleep.

Splinter woke again and found that he had slept for about four hours and he felt so refreshed and hot. He quickly pulled the covers off and felt his robs were damp with sweat. His fever was breaking. He could hear his sons laughing in the other room; he got up and went into the living room to see what they were up to. They were just watching a movie.

"Master Splinter are you feeling better?" asked Raph.

"Much better, thank you Raphael," answered Splinter. Splinter looked around the lair; he noticed something a little different. It was clean, cleaner than it had ever been. Splinter was puzzled for a moment, his sons hardly ever cleaned up after themselves let alone the entire lair, unless he threatened them with vigorous training.

"We cleaned the lair for you," said Leo.

Splinter thought about everything they had done for him today, despite their disobeying him, they meant well and they helped him recover quickly.

"Boys remember that I said I was going to punish you for going topside?"

The turtles' frowned thinking that their punishment was going to start, "yes," they said together.

"Well, I take it back," they looked up in surprise and joy, "I believe you deserve a reward for today,"

"Really?" said Raph

"What is it?" said Mikey they all jumped up and stood at his feet like puppies.

"It is a surprise," said Splinter, "Wait here, I will be back soon." Splinter took a trench coat and a hat for a disguise and left the lair. The turtles waited anxiously for their surprise. Splinter was gone for fifteen minutes. When he returned he had a paper bag in his hands, and there was something in it.

"What'd you get us? What'd you get us?" said the turtles in excitement.

"I got you some ice cream," said Splinter, they never had ice cream before but they knew what it was.

"Oh boy! This is gonna be so yummy!" said Mikey. Splinter served out the ice cream and the turtles ate it happily. Splinter got a cup of tea, and started telling his sons their favorite story.

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><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed it!


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